The Sun. — London, England, 1810-12-06 00:00:00

I I ,~ i~ of Charles IL clop. 1, has ben quoted, biz '`) ;t• is er,JA:7d, that an: r , erson who maintains t-e two Houses or Parliament have any leg's. :tithority without the King, shal incur all tr , e sof a premunire. This has been much i.: , .trtr-d to on the pre , enr occasion, tx,th as declara tory of - the, ancient Constitution, and as a law still in and consequent y ninding upon our conduct. Ir s,. th.o . ,.fore, material to consider it with alien tiOn, Iwctike if its operation be i ,really such as has been stated, every discussion 'of restrictions or limi a:torrs is in the present moment prematUre, and airy hereafter become .useless .and nugatory . For r. 7„ own part, I have no scruple to confess, that I . pelt rt all• [noted by the authority of this sta.; • tut e, wly . ch I consider as wholly inapplicable to our ptr2 , .ein situation. No one can douht, that in 7the. ordin.try course - of Government, the principle of • that ,i6t is binding tipoa ns•as • the very foundation 1 and cot . ner-stone of the British Co. , stitution.. When the throne'of these kingdoms is full, and when the 'E.ing i 5 perSonally capable of discharging the duties , Of his4ration, his express coneurrelye is unques. _•:tion3bly necessary to every act of legislative piwer. But on such an occasion as the present, it appears to • • me, ttrat the very same necessity by which we are compelled to act at all, extends itself to 'the m inner in which we are to att,, superseding both the letter . of thiS statute, .and the principle ou which 'it is founded. • " I certainly had the honour to ,concur entirely, not only . with the general principle on ,which we hava asserted the right of the' tAko Houses to.pro-, • yide forthis'eMergency,, but also with the grounds on which we resolved that the proper mode of making such provision would be, by determiniug on the means by which the Royal assent may be •give,n in Parliament' to a bill fur' establishing; the Regency. In etery step which we take tinder • our pr.:sent circumstances; it is,. in my opinion . „ extremely material, that we should adhere, as far as possible, to the est ihlished forms of that Con stitution, toe very lornas of ;which are dear to the, hearts of Englishmen,. And in this pariculor in wance; I n.'t•tye that • the signification of the Royal aSSeilt, by the great seal, that wg in through which ,the authority ot the Crown - speaks, i , ,the m wa most solemn and authentic anner, is not point of form only, but follows as, a necessary conse quence front some of the most important principles of the Constitution, which could` not be neglected without 'great ,and manitest danger. But looking to the substance, of the ditty .which we are now callf.d upon to perform, Lean haven° difficulty io declare explicitly, that in, proViditig for this emer gency, I conceive that the two }Lusts of Pallid merit must in re dity act iii a. legislative capacity, in so. far, and so far. only, as the necessity of the case requires : that it would be and nugatory for us . , in the situation in whico ..4 , e now stand, to be afraid ot words; or not to look to the true sense and meaning ot those Measures which •we are oblige 3 to take; and that no distinction can on any just principle, be maintained between ads of , legiS- Jat,on, properly SO called, arid'. those proceedings which • , v.. al wad s been adopted, in cases of a ne cessity at a c'; il.ir io the present. . " If, Inc. eed, 't • w ere any force: in. the Aai)jec-. tion whic: has thus ,be •rt raised, it must apply equally to every stei. that can be taken, and the oo • ly, inference t hat could be draw n (to n rt . would be, tha; we were now in a situation for which do remedy' could by any posslynity be pi ovided.. 'We have already •declared, • that we acknowledge tick-right existing in ,any person, however. exalted. his rank may be, to ad_ iii this instance on the King's be half, except under the, authority of. Parliament.—, And if it be (rue, that no aca, whiCh subsatitial ly and really of a legislative lnature, can be per ..,ed, even in such a case as the present, by the Lords and Commons. of Great 7 Brirain alone, .it is ithpossible that we can cure this defeet by appoint ing ,some p. rson, who, deriving his authority froth (IS,. shalt '.exeicise the Royal functions int he place of the Sovereign. For whatever form we may adopt, would it not, in truth, be directly and plain ly an aei of legis:ation, to deClare that the force of laws sh.ill lien:efortb be given; and the obedience of the subject _be.duly plid,• lot to acts of -Parliament, • passed by King, Lords,. id Comilions, but to bill's'. pa,ssed by the two Houses, and assented .to by-a kegent, having no auibozity to give such assent, ex- cept w14...t he derives from our proceedings ? In any case, thetefore, this statute, if it applies at all to the presant circumstances, must prevent the possi bility of any legal provision being made tor this si- tuation. Whether we attempt, by one att. - of legis lation, to provide for. this emergency by ourselves, without the personal intervention ot the. Sovereign, or whether by another at.t ot legishitiOn, we auto- rize some person to supply th 6 pldce of the King, and to proceed, in concurrence wilh_us, the.statute is equally opposed as a bar to our proceedings,, and no alternative xemains, but that of an immediate and total dissolution of the Government. " On this ground alone I should contend, that such a principle of latv c twor_exist as applicable to these .circumstances. And I should urge, in sup port of 'this position, the opinions of those writers whose names are . thv.tirst in Legal weight and autho- rity, paiiicularly that ofSirWillia — in Riackcone, who.tells'us expressly, in arguing.an a point inane- . . 'didiely connected with this.stibject, that " the ne ce3biiy ofthe case supersedes all law." " But I must also beg lease to desire that this question nay be examined upon the example. apt! ',roc:flee of our ancestors in two distitiguistie3 in- s►ances ; the one occurring at, the wry period of pihslng ti►ts statute w;►ich I have belore reierred 10 ; tie other whim) no very lohg term of years subsequent to it. At the Restoratioh, the firs; step "tt hich was taken for re•esfabhshin the Btitish con stitution, was 'to declore; by a soiento iesolutton, that the only legal government of these ',kingdoms resided in the King, Lords, and Cot - unions. Yet, iniwed;attly atter 11116 de c laration: bad . teen wade by butt) Houses, and aftt4 they had recoe,nised their true and lawful Sovereig,n, they proLerded in his absence to t:,e exercise of several factions both of tt- s isl,tive and of Execuriye - Government ; mot i:er- intencli , g to 'superbede the authority 'of the ir they had ,so teeetttly ; but thvy it ; their. duty both to iatid theft c0t:c414).; . t0 verfoup whait:vut aab were ,necessary to Vrep'l - i'e The tcfsy 'Lis 'rettitt. Such was the ceridua of tire very same Houses of Parliament, who, 'within a few .months afterwards, pass:d, in concurrence with the King, the Act in quesLian, declaratory of- •a principle which i 7; now alleged as precluding us fromahe free consideration of the measures necessary in out. present situation. I cannot but think That we shall best expound this: law by adhering to the construNiun of those by . whom it was made ; and that we are at liberty to exerjse, as they did, QUI' best discretion and,judg . • went in the behalf of our country, under the ir cuinstanees of a necessity,'at least as' stro ng as that under which they acted: " At the mernor,ible. zra of the qevolutiOn, this statute was' still in hid 'force and 'vigour, not eon sidered as an obs , )lete law, but as one passed not many years before, and founded on the,expenenee of misfortunes still freSh ict the recollection of the nation. But if the Convention Parliament ba3 then admitted its operation,, as applying to, the circunt starlets 'Litter which they inet, it must have Stopped their de!iberatjons in the very outset, and must have raised au insupei able obstacle to those measures to which alone we are indebted for the preservation of our rights. Or even if 'they had thought: them selves at liberty to declare the forfeiture of their Sovereign as an - existing. 66 ) arising' from no a6l of their's, but from . hiS iniscorkbia, h t it be considered what, under the letter of the statute, Must knive been their subsequect proceedings. They must hate acknowlialgea that the Crown had tlrt renpon inTmadiately de ended to. the next heir of King" James`; and that without the Sanetion and concur rence of, their new Sov ere i gn no. measure could . le-• I gaily be tak e n by t h e two H ouses o f Parliament. Instead of this, they feet fhemselVes warranted by the necessity of the - case., first to set aside the abdi cated King; next ) ;to disinherit his son, whet her real or pretended, the ille B itimacy of whose birth, however strongly asserted, had not only not beets proved, but ...as not even inquired into by them ; and lastly, in the settlement of the Government to introdwie a new o , der'of succession, disregarding the stricl line ''l descent, even in, the t , ersons of the itVo next Protestant heirs. What is their whic can be a more diiect or manif:st ekere:se "of kgisla tive authorny, than each of these several steps ? Toe transferring by law the obedience of a whole people from the S9vereign to whom, they had sworn allegiance—the .superseding his immediate heirs, on whom the right to_ tat allegiance descend:- ed according to the fundaMental inAitutions of the Monarchy—the changing' the 'established order of succession to the Throne in the existing cixorn stances—and the imposing'new conditions and li mitations on the subsequent descent of an hereditary Crown. This whole transaction, produ&•tive of such happy cocsequences, appears to me to be Unques tionably not only an ad of legislation, but an ad of the highest legislative authority. Justified by the necessity of the times, and therefore supported by the concurrence s and approbation of the best and wisest men, to whom we owe the preservation of our liberties. (To be continued ) M A L L S. ARRIViI)-Ithrill, 1 Waterford. Dt,l—.l Lisbon, Malta, ',Waterford. PH I CF, , OF STOCKS . , THIS DAY A r iwb.tvr oCLOCK • Copsilis for op. 67 i Red. Ann.• - 66411 Oinnium - fi N . Sk!LEM QUIS nied.RE ii;LSUNI AUDEAT? L D , THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1810. " Windsor Castle, Dec. 6, IS to. "The . Ktai6 has had but an indifferent night, and is not quite so well this morning." Signed as usual. N.B.—The Evening Bulletin is discontinued. We have received some French Papers to the 29th ult, from which we have made copious extracts. The Moniteur, instead of announcing, as it used to do, viaories almost every week,in the wars against Austria and Prussia, is now obliged to perforM the' More humble task of commenting upon the dis patches of Lord WELLINGTON. • We are not, how -ever, surprised that - BuoNArARTE should feel angrily, towards Lord WELLINGTON, and that he should en deavour to depreciate his charmer; that Noble Lord has certainly done much to draw upon -.him self the animosity of the Usurper, but why the .sairie feeling should,operate upon the minds of peo ple in this country, we are, we confess, at a loss to understand: It is singular to find the Moniteur entering into a discussion respeaing the battle of Busaco, without having published any official ac count of it. Either the French Government has received rvlAssENA's dispatch, br-,it has not ; if it has, why nut publish it ? if it has not, BUONAPARTE cannot be in possession of any information to war nut him in contradiCting Lord WELLINGTON. Our Falmouth Letter of this morning states, that the Speculation cutter had arrived there from Lis bon, which place sheleft on the 22d ult. ; the Mas ter of which reports,. that just. before he.sa ilecf, he saw 3000 French prisoners brought into Lisb..m.— We are afraid that the Master ha made some mis take upon this subject, because the Jasper, which brought Lord WELLINGTON'S dispatches, did not l eave Lisbon till the 23d, and Admiral BERKELEY'S dipatches are of the 22J. It is probable that the Master saw the 400 FrenCh prisohers brought in that were taken when- the nench - retreated, and was misinfor►ned with' regard to the numbers. We received this morning Jamaica Papers to the 6th The only ari4le W any interest wLich they contain is the following 1-- ".13,:ai PHAN ctsco Otivicr arrived hzre n'n Satur day, the 1 . 5 h, liom Rio de la flache, entrusted with dipatches from the, Governor of that place to his Grace the Governor, acquainting him that the inha bitatns of .that (I:strit-t hAd recognized the Regency of Spain, and expressing an earnest de,sire for the continuatioti of a 'ft ieudly intercourse- with the British:" - Tilt following Signal, l Ri - been otdered to be hoisted at the ditreidot Signal Posts on .'.e - co.ist, to denote the appearance of nil enemy ror—" An enemy's trigater-One ball above a flag. For—" The enemy's sthall'truizei - s"==Two balls above a flag. Yor--L." An enemy's ship 'or veStels clWe under the land" Three balls abOVe 5 flag. . . N. B. These s;; - hals will tie hoisted at the yids : the bills perpe4icular, and a pt•ndant at 14c mast: head and no signals made at the S'gnal l'osis bu t those above=mentioned, are to be attended to by merchant veBstis. This notice is given in coti-equence of the amis.. sion of the pendant at the mast-head, and the dispo . sition of the balk, 'in th e memo r an d um of the vtith ultimo, and in order to prevent any inconvcnience to the Trade, until the signals issued, from the Ad miralty shall be. delivered flout the Custom -house when %essels cic r out. There was no arrival from Portugal yesterday, but some kite's received by the last ti aii contained 'the following copy of a dispatch from Colonel TRANT io Geuetal BLRESFORD, which WdS DOI in any of ;be Lisbon papers that reached us on Monday LETTER FROM COLONEL TRANT TO 1118. EXCEL- LENCY FIELD MARSHAL BERESFQRD, " I havet the honour to inforrn your Excelleny, that on the 4th of this month, a corps of .the ene my appeared before Villa Campo, ten miles North of Tomar, to the number of 4000, or thereabouts, having been detached from the main army. Th e y had been sent out under the command of a French General Officer, with a design of reconnoitring the position I occupied with the force your Excellency - did me the honour to put tinder my direct;on.— Posted near Millar, they were attacked by the Por 7 tuguese militia with the greatest• bravery, and driven in with the loss of between b 0 and Go prisoners, and 'as many killed. Our advantage would have been more considerable,. and they certainly would have sustained a severe:defeat, had they not so soon disco vered our numbers, which caused them to retire oh the first volley. Our loss was only seven kill ed, and i4,or tt o slightly wounded. • " Since the above aff.iir, as I found the enemy strenghtening by reinfOrctirriEtitS, riiii7tTfiken 'up my ground on the river Zezere, south-east of Ft- . gUero, and have the satisfaction to inform your Ex cellency of the good conduct of . my and of the.great.patriotism ot the people. By intelligence . which' I :have received from Villa Rey, I find that the corps of French troops which made an attack upon Abrantes, abandoned that place on the 24th or 25th, and 'returned towards the Zezere. The troopi in garrison, from what I learn, behaVed most gallantly; and are prepared to meet a much larger force than the enemy can spare to 'send against' them. The people are arA have , been for seine time employed in repairing the 'Walls, and mending the fortifications, under the direction of able engineers. " Gud preserve your Exce:lency many years. " N. TRA NT. " North of Domes, Nov. 7,." Letters were yesterday received by, a ship dire& from Hamburgh to the date of the 21st . trit. counts from Copenhagen mention, that 4000, sea men had arrived in 2 , •aland on their wAy troni Nor way to the Sehedt. They had - ,volunteered _to serve in the fleet in that river. Ft cm Hamburgh and the other Hans Towns, 2000 men had Le en fu rn i s h e d for the same purpose,, who were proceeding to Ant werp. It wis stated on 'Change yesterday, tint an Em bargo had been ordered to be laid ors all SAedish vessels in the different pottypf the United Kingdom; but on inquiry the:report I:vas-found io have oril*l - in the order sent to the Custom-house, br,,Go verninent, fur a return of all Swechsh vessels lying in the River. DREADFUL CONFLAGRATION.--We Litely sofa that a most chitru,li,e Inc had 'tait , !ri place at Chnie3toll; SC:M[li Cartifithi. The iosi of property cannot as yet be accurately ascertaioed, but it rs . sup. posed that it will not be leis than halt a/mann of dollar. Tire numb. r 14' horvies•,A h . rr.-.ti were burnt and blown up are about 259. i. l.tr e propor lion of the houses r!(.'stioy ed w, r. -ither. owned or occupied by t e6oOft in tt.c h:!rnbler walki life, niafiy ut whutu ltaare Ikea c:ep—vt:d of . thtir kilt; all. As "ille Morning Cfironicle has thou;ilt proper to abandon the discussion with us upon the subjeEt Of a Regency, it is hardly necessary for us to put 'sin 'the subject. - We argued the questicin upon ,the broad and genetql principles of. he Constitution, not thinking it necessary to quote autl.orities upon so Obvious a point ; but in referring since to the pro ceedings in 1786, we met with the speech of Lord GRENVILLE, then• Mr. GRENVILLE, and Syeaker of the House of Commons, and we have telt it our din); to reprint it,' because it contains a . niost elo quent-and learned refutation of the unconstitution.il doctrine's advanced by the OPposilon of that day, and by the Chronicle on the present occosion... NAVAL N'.f.WS. FALMOUTH, DEC. 3.—Arrived this evening th? .IPindsor castle packet, Surrotc, with Mails 6.0111 Jamaica, in 55 days pa , sage : left lying ,there h is Majesty's ship Polyphemus, of 74 guns, Vice miral ROWLE Y , an d t h e tShalck and Fly sluoPs ° tsar. On the tLeth of October, in lat. 18.22. spok e a brig from Bristol, 'out 50 days. On the 30th 1 11 E' in lat. 49. 34. long. 10. 48. tell in with the brig Sevetin, from Qoebec,. out gg days, bound i° Greenock, in a very leitky state, and having six fee t , water in the hold, t oo k out t h e crew, and . the vess' i shortly atter went down. The packet brings ; 10 news, or passengers ; she has on board 100,000 doi` lays for the British merchants. Also arrived the cniter Speculation, DYER MO` ter, froni Lisbon, which she leit on the 22d ult . ' The inaster•reports, that justas heleft, 1000 FreaC tt pris,ners were brotight i,lto Lisbon ; a part of 114 rear taut off by General COTI'ON with a divisidti of cavalry. Sailed the Diziz, HICItTALLE, and Friends, W Eii‘ BE It, fOr Bfistol the - Severn, MuRGATT, for Lon' don; the Echo, CLAfiK, and EvliK I or ALtitiuique; and the Yoting Henry, CuitTiAas, l ur G;eenotk. PLYmouTit,, Disc. 4.—,1 large quantiiy of - trenching tuoli hat=e been slipped truth the gull' wharf here for Lisbon. Ot, Sunday morning last; the sloop Illorniiig Sla r.; belonging to this port; Lay's master; hetice wit h some passenger, fir Fowey, and ati'ies of the l a t ter -port, t h e slo''P was becalined S on.l, in consequence, the paisou' gers, logeiher with the master of the ves' el; took tr., the boat; for the purpose of getting egliorti, and soon Interleaving the Vessel they weie tbllosifed by a huge monster, did nature of which could not a t first be ascertaine,i, but on its coming close to the stern,of the boat it Was found to be a large grampu s ; upwards of forty feet Icing, , ne fits of which teaClie d six feet aboveihe surface of the water; its tnagnitud 6 caused great alarm to the persons in the boar, burl ltoweVer, they kept beating it about the head with the oars'in order if possible to drive it away, was et - retied alter , sons lline; it was Cio,e to thd stern of the boat 3 which was expe&ed every ruodit;l it W have been upset ; fortunately, howeve+, that 'w ag not the case, and all the persons were landed in safe ty at Fowey.a short time after. Sailed his Majesty's ship lidicon, of t,l guns, °ll a .cruize. Arrived the brig Sussex. Oak of-Arundel, .LIAD4 WRIGHT, master,- - from Chepstow, with 3 cargo, bound to Newca.,tle packet is . jut arrived in Cm6arid Bap, but g ave not been able to learn any particulars resfe6t:.' her. • Thee Regiments at present in this Garrison, o' . silt of:the std ROyal Lancashire, Royal .C:,eshire, Somerset, NOrth Devon, Nottingham, SitropsbP e) South Hants, and one company of the Royal Ca lla 'call Regiments of Militia ; the East Regitnei.t is a airtmoor. There are also two brigades of Royal Artillery;corps of Attillery Drivers; corps of Arti ficers; w ith Officers of Engineers, &c. and a sm all detachment of the gth Light Dragoons ; a Vita ° of Buffs is expected to receive orders for this place• ; CLIATRA NI, DEC. 5.—:-Carne up his Majestys 514 * Princess Caroline to be docked and refrited. i~~ SHEERNESS, DEC. s. —Ar r i ve d hi s M a j esty ' S k Pandora, Primrose, and Lantottr. PORTSMOUTH, DEC. s.—Arrived this day his . l Vl3 :: jesty's ship Christian VII. from the• Downs; phea, from a cruize ; Sandwich, ,fronts Guerol l the • Sarah, ALLEN, from Waterford the Th° fliag and Jane, GRAY, Providence, SMITH, Hope, G °t : MAN,' and the Bee, BULBECK, from the Down" the Neptune, HurcaiNis, from Wexford ; the Afar garati WARE, and the Two Brothers, from Sund er. land; also the Neptune, GARRETT, from Quebe c ' , Came into harbour yesTerday his Majesty's 5") Mote, and, his Majesty's ship Daphne came 111 th " ." day. His Majesty's ship Crocus went out of illirb °l4 yesterd3y. DEAL, DEC. s, —Arrived his Majesty's ship - Luri, Captain CUMBERLAND, from the Balt,c main a large fleet of coasters, Sce. DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZE-IlIONEY• board the Annlit, at Portsmouth, To the Amelia, 14 the re.capture of the Winstead. 0° called on Mondays and Thursdays, for three month', at Ncl. IS, Geurge-street, Plymouth. une - To the Medusa, for the capture of the French brig re v‘ i Camrile, on board the Medusa, on the ;sth instant ; for three months. at No. 44, George-st . e...t, Plymouth I.M-ft, To the slo o p Al tiros, . fur the cepture the Frenali slot? Pere de Famille (in sight of the Violet lugger), at SI Plymouth Duck, forthwith ; re-called, for three inow'''! on the Bth instant ; re the Same place. , re 'or To the h i red arme d cutter A d r i an, f or t he L'Aif " ti ` du Bet (1.1 c• , tnpany. with the A r i tißte key), on the Bti i , at. No.Gtorge It 711(1'116 , re-.tiled on MoildAi: firar4W/ys, tut cif.; the same place. tain, - "E,Xtro I bY's th e 2 troop, Putth jrarcj I '► r s have goitr e Abra t. 11 11e0 s erials but (1- car Who m is Pass et- 1( 1, 7a , Praia ic ,tity ss cer; 7F tg tes. 4 e v " i 1 6 i e 3 1 01' E " On : 4311 1 Ai Ad and Pushed 'tre two 11 Y t i t : toll .‘);, tieo,* -,-- ( -) 9.